Albus Severus, The Slytherpuff Chronicles
by C.T. Moon
Summary: Accidental Slytherin Albus Potter & his best friend Scorpius turn to a book of mysteries hoping for popularity. While Albus' brother James harbors a secret that could bring on a third war & Albus may end up being the Gryffindor Golden Boy's only salvation
1. Chapter 1

Albus Severus, The Slytherpuff Chronicles

By: C.T. Moon

It was a sunny and hot day when Albus boarded the train to go to his first year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He said goodbye to his parents and managed to jump on the train right before the doors slammed.

Albus walked through the many compartments of the train and finally found an empty one. It wasn't that he didn't want to sit with the other students it was just that everyone peeked through their doors whispering about the son of Harry Potter. Not needing that bit of awkwardness, he decided solitude was preferable when he was still worried about which house he would be sorted into. His father told him that he could choose if he wanted to, but he was still uneasy.

Albus was wondering if Rose, his cousin, would turn up and sit with him. He wouldn't mind her company since she was just as nervous as he was. Just then the compartment door opened and Albus looked up expecting to see Rose, but instead a boy with blond hair and pale skin stepped in asking, "Mind if I sit here?"

Albus was thinking about saying, no, but he knew that was pretty rude of him. "Umm, sure, take a seat, mate."

"Thank you." He walked into the compartment and sat across from Albus. They looked at each other for a while. The boy now seemed nervous as if Albus would bite him, and then he asked, "Are… are you pureblood?"

Albus was taken aback. No one had ever asked him that before and he wasn't quite sure what to say. He finally settled on, "Umm, I think so?"

"Good," said the boy, appearing pleased for unknown reasons. They stared at each other for a while again, before he shrugged. "Do you like Quidditch?"

Albus enjoyed watching and following Quidditch, but had never taken to flying. He much preferred having both feet on the ground. James, his brother, always taunted him about it because both Albus' parents had been Quidditch players and from what he knew so were the rest of his family.

Still, Albus was a great fan of the sport and nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, I like to _watch_ Quidditch."

So the two boys finally found something to talk about. They discussed their favorite Quidditch teams and if the Chudley Cannons would ever win the World Cup. However, this got old after about a half hour and they went back to staring at each other. An uncomfortable silence filled the train compartment until Rose walked in with her red hair, bright and vibrant, flowing behind her

"Albus, there you are. I've been looking for you everywhere." Rose sat down and then looked at the boy. "Hey, I know you. You're that Malfoy boy."

Albus, who was glancing out the window, did a double take and then gaped at him like a fish out of water. "You're a Malfoy?"

"Yes, and if I am?" asked the boy defensively, his shoulders suddenly stiff, his back straight as he narrowed light eyes at both Rose and Albus.

"Oh… I was just," Albus trailed away, he wasn't quite sure what to say. He had heard a lot about the Malfoys and none of it was very good. "I was, um… Yeah."

Albus put his hands in his lap, and turned to stare out the window once more, feeling his cheeks flame in embarrassment. Even if Albus' family positively loathed the Malfoys, it was no reason to be rude to a boy who had never done anything to him personally.

"So," said Rose, siting up, obviously trying to break the silence. "You still planning on being in Gryffindor, Al?"

Before Albus had a chance to answer Malfoy broke in, "My father says they put all the prats and airheads in Gryffindor-"

"Well, then you'd fit right in, Malfoy," said Rose, now glaring at Malfoy. "Wouldn't you?"

"Hmm," hummed Malfoy, his gaze running over Rose critically. "Let me guess, freckles, red hair, you must be a Weasley. My father told me the school would be infested with them."

"Well, I heard about you too. Everyone knows half your family is in jail or dead. There's no need to guess what house you're going to be in… Slytherin!"

Albus was shocked. He rarely saw Rose get so angry. She was always kind hearted and kept to herself most of the time. However, he didn't quite blame her, even if she was being almost cruel in her taunting.

Malfoy looked like he was going to yell when the candy cart came by. Albus didn't want to get into the fight so he stepped up and ordered half the cart. He pushed the candy into both their laps. Malfoy looked like he wasn't going to take it, but then shrugged and obviously decided to eat it.

"Thank you," said Rose primly to Albus, before she turned and glared at Malfoy once more. "What? You're not even going to thank him?"

Malfoy grit his teeth for one long moment before he surprised them both by whispering, "Thanks."

It started to get dark and Albus knew they were getting close because they had left the city behind. Now all he could see was trees and farms as the sky was painted in shades of pink and dark purple beneath a wide, yellow full moon. Although they didn't really like Malfoy they managed to find topics that didn't start a fight. Albus knew Rose better than just about anyone and he could see she was still angry. It was a testament to her gentle nature that she was trying to be cordial despite the tension.

During a conversation where Rose talked about her latest visit to their uncle's joke shop, one of Albus' cousins showed up. Molly, who was a third year Ravenclaw was told by her father Percy to check on them. It was a minor miracle she'd left them be until now.

"We're almost there. You'd better get your robes on," Molly said, looking pressed and polished in her robes. She flipped long red hair behind her and turned to leave the compartment. "Don't dilly dally. You want to be put together nicely on your first day."

They struggled with their robes, Rose taking extra care to smooth out hers and then much to Albus' horror, worked at smoothing out his as well. She got twitchy when she was nervous and obviously was using him as an outlet. He pushed her away, avoiding Malfoy's eyes as he took over the task of straightening his own robes and then worked at storing away the extra treats he hadn't eaten.

They bid goodbye to Malfoy once the train arrived and honestly, he looked as happy to be rid of them as they were to be done with him.

The bustle to get off the train was hectic and claustrophobic. The bodies pushing in on him didn't help Albus' nerves. Rose seemed to have the same problem, even going so far as to clutch his hand until they hopped off the train, breathing in the crisp Scottish nighttime air.

"First years over here."

It was Rubeus Hagrid, who Albus had only met a few times. Even still, he left a lasting impression. He could never forget the large man with the big heart who stood over seven feet tall.

Albus walked up to him, Rose close at his heels as the first smile of the evening tugged at his lips. "Hagrid, it's me Albus, remember?"

"'Course I didn't forget yeh." A broad smile appeared beneath the bushy beard. He pated him on the head and Albus had to widen his stance to keep from falling over. "Yer the spitting image of yer father."

Somehow, being reminded his father and how closely he resembled him brought Albus' nerves right back to the surface. He felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders as they all climbed into boats. Rose sat by his side and Albus tried to forget his nervousness and enjoy his first arrival at Hogwarts as a student. They broke through the fog and Albus' breath caught as he stared up at the castle cutting a powerful image in the night sky, lights twinkling in the windows warm and welcoming in a way that was surprising. He could have stared at it forever if the boat didn't move strangely, forcing Albus to glance into the murky blackness of the lake hesitantly.

"Hagrid, I think there's something under us," Albus said, speaking loud over the excited chatter of the other first years.

"Oh, don't worry about that. That'll be the giant squid, won't it?" said Hagrid dismissively.

"Great," said Rose tensely. "We're gonna get eaten by a quaint _squid_ before we get there. I've never heard of a giant squid. Did you hear about it, Al? I guess I should have read that _Hogwarts A History_ Mum gave me, but I was trying to get caught up on other core reading, like charms and-"

Albus ignored his cousin's rambling, finally recovering from his shock and asking, "There's a squid in the lake? But how on earth can it live in the cold?"

"Oh, you'd be discovering a lot more then that, you wait and see," said Hagrid, turning around to give them a broad smile, his face bathed in light and shadows from the lantern resting next to him.

After a long boat ride and a view of Hogwarts, which looked amazing, they'd dried off and entered the school. This wasn't Albus' first time at Hogwarts. He had come once with his father for work during the summer, but now that he was there to learn it felt very overwhelming and intimidating.

They entered a large room with a massive staircase and Albus saw someone walking down the stairs, another brown haired first year at his side. Desperate for the comfort of friends, Albus yelled without thinking, "Neville!"

After a moment he remembered that this man wasn't Neville any longer, but Professor Longbottom.

With a wince, Albus backtracked, "I'm sorry. I mean. . . umm. . . Professor Longbottom." Feeling his face heat, he gave a lame wave at the man who was over at Albus' house so much he felt like family. "Hey."

Neville didn't get angry, but just smiled as he walked up to the group of nervous first years, pushing his son towards the group to blend in with the others who had come on the train.

"Hello, everyone and welcome to Hogwarts. I, as Mr. Potter so kindly put it, am Professor Longbottom." Neville winked at Albus, before he turned his attention back to the entire group. "And if you'd all please follow me it's time for the sorting. Each of you will be put in one of our four esteemed houses here at the school."

Albus heard Malfoy in the background saying, "Potter? You're a Potter?"

He turned around and glared at Malfoy and then said smartly, "Yes, and if I am?"

Malfoy didn't respond, but his look said it all.

Albus didn't have the time or the desire to worry about what Malfoy thought about him. They were walking into the Great Hall, a sea of older, bigger students all looking at them. Albus thought he might throw up. Even the waves from cousins and a rare thumbs up from James couldn't help him feel better as the Sorting Hat was brought out and started singing its song. The words were muted behind the thrum of his heartbeat in his ears. James thumbs up turned into a rude hand gesture as he pulled a face at Albus before their cousin Fred reached over and smacked the back of James' head.

Then they started calling the first years up one by one. For some reason they were out of order, there was no rhyme or reason to the order the students went up and that made Albus even more nervous. He held his breath each time Neville went to call another first year up to be sorted.

"Rose Weasley."

Albus turned to look at Rose, who was pale under her freckles, but she straightened her shoulders and walked up showing a brave face in very Weasley like fashion. She sat on the stool, looking ahead as the hat was place on her head. It didn't rest there long before it shouted-

"Ravenclaw."

"What! Ravenclaw?" yelled James, his voice echoing over the enthusiastic clapping from the Ravenclaw table.

Their cousin Molly even stood up at the Ravenclaw table, looking beyond excited to no longer be the sole Weasley NOT in Gryffindor. Several of Molly's friends stood up as well, the table now appearing extremely enthused to have another Weasley in their house.

Albus may feel like his was going to throw up, but Rose actually looked it as she got off the stool and made her way to the Ravenclaw table. Molly hugged Rose, rubbing her back as if understanding her shock and whispering in her ear as they sat. Albus saw other Ravenclaws reach over to pat Rose's back enthusiastically.

Neville was now yelling other names and more people were sorted, Frank Longbottom became a Gryffindor, and Jason Flint because a Slytherin. Albus was so nervous now that he looked around at the few remaining students.

Finding Malfoy from the train and realizing he was the only first year left that he actually knew Albus leaned into the blond boy and asked, "I never got your first name."

"Scorpius," he answered, looking just as nervous. "And yours?"

"Albus Potter!" yelled Neville before he could answer Scorpius.

_Please don't let me faint. Please don't let me faint. _

Albus repeated the chant as he made his way to the stool, trying to ignore the large crowd and trying even harder not to think about the cousins and family friends out there who were all waiting to hear what house Albus would be put into.

"Hmm. . . a Potter, interesting," said the hat, interrupting Albus' panicked thoughts. "You know you'd do very well in Hufflepuff."

_HUFFLEPUFF! _

"Not Hufflepuff!" Albus thought, feeling his blood run icy at just the thought of being in Hufflepuff. "Anything but Hufflepuff!"

_God, please, no. . . Not Hufflepuff!_

He'd have to run away from home and learn a trade rather than face living in the same house with James as a Hufflepuff.

"Not Hufflepuff. . . Hmmm. . .Well. . . " The hat went silent. And after what felt like several days it yelled, "Slytherin!"

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Author's Note: Well, here it is. . . My first very unique HP fan fiction. Please let me know what you think! I'm nearly done with the next chapter and reviews are like cookies for my muse.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Albus woke up in a cold sweat. He'd been having that dream again about his first day of Hogwarts; it always seemed to come up in the beginning of a new school year. Albus looked around the rest of the dormitory, finding that all of of his roommates were still asleep. He wasn't sure what time it was since the Slytherin dormitory had no windows.

Albus got up and walked across the room to the small clock next to the water jug. It was half past six and Albus decided he'd stay up. He still needed to finish his potions homework Professor Slughorn gave them on their first day of classes.

Albus picked up his Advanced Potion Making Grade Three book and walked through the halls to the Slytherin common room. He was still thinking about the dream he had and how scary that event was in person. Without wanting to he relived the shock on everybody's faces when Albus Potter, son of the famous Harry Potter, was put into Slytherin, which was well-known to have churned out more dark wizards then all the other houses combined.

The common room was draped with Slytherin banners and decorated in Slytherin green and silver. Even the fireplace danced with green and silver flames, but the room had a nice, homey feeling to it even if it was cold as ice. He found some parchment and a quill and tired to write but he found himself distracted by his dream.

Albus remembered the yells at the Gryffindor table. James most of all when he stood up and shouted, "Slytherin! What the hell?"

The look of shock of the teacher's faces, many of them whispering to each other, and Neville, or… Professor Longbottom's look of disappointment, which he quickly tried to hide.

But, what Albus remembered the most was the look on the Slytherin's faces, each of them appeared to have just been slapped, that's how horrified they seemed over having Albus in their house. None of them clapped except a very snobbish part veela girl named Bella, who Albus knew to be his aunt Fleur's niece by her sister Gabriella.

Albus shook himself out of his morose thoughts, knowing he needed to finish his report. Potions came easily to him and he found the report a nice distraction. After about a half hour other students started to wake up, shuffling out of their dormitories, quietly talking and working on reports of their own. It wasn't until he saw his friend Scorpius that Albus decided the report was good enough. He wrapped it up and put it in his bag while Scorpius sat across him at the table.

"Morning," said Scorpius with a yawn. He looked at Albus' again. "How long have you been up?"

Albus shrugged. "Hour, I think . . . couldn't sleep."

"Hmm." Scorpius eyed him knowingly. "Bad dreams, I'm guessing."

Albus gave a nervous smile. "Yeah, maybe."

They decided to eat an early breakfast in the hopes (or Albus' hopes anyway) that he would run into his little sister Lily. He hadn't seen her since before they left for Hogwarts, and since she was sorted into Gryffindor that left breakfast as his only hope of catching a moment with her.

They left the common room, heading to the great hall, and Albus had noticed the poster for the Gobstones club on the school notice bored. He was thinking of joining. He'd always enjoyed playing. He made a mental note to ask Molly about it later since she was head of the committee.

They found their way to the Slytherin table, which was the farthest from the door and sat down. As usual the other Slytherin's slowly moved away from them, giving them nasty looks every so often as they piled their plates with food. Albus hoped it would stop this year but he could see he was wrong. In fact it seemed to be getting worse.

He ate slowly, enjoying the wonderful food Hogwarts had to offer, which thanks to his aunt Hermione was made by free house elves. After a while both Albus and Scorpius were so full they just sat at the table unable to move. To Albus' disappointment he still hadn't seen his little sister. Hoping Lily may show up he tried to slow there departure. Even still, he could only stall for so long before they had to leave for class.

As they were heading out of the Great Hall, Scorpius stopped walking and smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Damn, I forgot my potions report."

Albus brushed his hair out of his eyes. "So what, we'll just pick it up on the way to-"

"No, you don't understand. I forgot to _write _it."

Albus gaped at him. "Really? Then what were you up late writing last night?"

Scorpius blushed, his fair skin making his discomfort more than obvious. "Never you mind. It's… just don't worry about it. I got to try to get something done before class. I'm dead if I show up completely empty handed. I'll meet you there."

Albus watched Scorpius run off, feeling a little confused by his best friend's potions slip up because Scorpius was usually pretty diligent about his homework. He was just considering following after Scorpius and helping him come up with something for his forgotten report when he spotted Lily walking to the Gryffindor table.

"Hey, Lil, Lil!" yelled Albus, running up to the Gryffindor table and purposely ignoring the disapproving glares from the other Gryffindors.

"Al!" said Lily, turning to Albus with a huge smile on her face, appearing completely oblivious to her housemates' displeasure. She leaned in to hug him, her arms tight around his middle. "I've been looking for you everywhere! I completely missed you at all the meals yesterday.

"How's Hogwarts?" Albus asked anxiously, remembering his own horrendous first year. "Is everyone treating you okay?"

Lily smiled. "Oh yes, I'm actually having a great time. Everyone's been really friendly and helpful. Hugo and I have been going to classes together and everything."

"Hugo? Where is he, anyway?" Albus hadn't seen his cousin since the train either.

Lily shrugged. "I think he's hanging around with James. We don't have classes for a few hours, so they're probably goofing off."

Albus gave Lily a dark look. "Try not to let him get you two into trouble because you know he will. He _always_ does."

Lily frowned. "Albus, you know… he's not that bad. I know you guys had a fight on the train back to school but he really does love you."

"Yeah! Okay, Lil, you keep telling yourself that," said Albus more forcefully then he meant to because he couldn't hide the bitterness James always churned up. After a long, awkward pause he swallowed hard and forced a smile. "Anyway, I want you to have a good day. Keep yourself out of trouble, study hard, all that stuff."

Lily was still frowning, before she whispered almost sadly, "You too, Al."

Albus nodded and turned to leave, but before he could get more than few steps Lily surged forward and held he arm tightly. She had a strange glare in her eyes and her voice was oddly monotone. "Albus, you will meet conflict today."

"What makes you say that?" Albus asked, frowning down at her.

She shrugged, blinking away the distant glassiness to her gaze. "I don't know, just a feeling. Anyway bye, Al." She gave him a wide, loving smile. "I want you to have a good day too."

"Okay," Albus said, pulling a face at her before he turned once again to leave. His sister always did weird things like that and he was pretty immune to it. "Later, Lil. I'll look for you at dinner."

Forgetting Lily's ominous warnings, Albus walked quickly through the halls of Hogwarts, now in danger of actually being late for potions. He was about to enter the dungeons when he saw Scorpius with a group of people, one of them being the person he least wanted to see… James.

"Al, what a treat to see you. We were just giving a little back to school welcome to our friend Scorpius here," said James with an evil grin.

Albus tried his best not to sound nervous. "Give him back his wand, James. Now!"

James laughed. "Why? We're just teaching him a few spells. I'm guessing he wanted us to magically glue his fingers together because he was giving us a shockingly rude hand gesture when we passed him, wasn't he, Fred?"

"Sure was, James," smirked Fred. "We're truly appalled. Bad manners like that insult our delicate sensibilities."

Albus took in the rest of the group as he walked closer. His cousin Fred with his dark hair, tanned skin and freckles over the bridge of his nose was walking strange due to his pockets that were noticeably stuffed and clunky. Albus guessed were full of dungbombs. Next to him he saw Louis, Albus' "better then you" part-veela cousin with his neatly styled hair and sparkling Gryffindor badge. Then Albus saw Hugo who was looking a little nervous, as if uncertain whether to join in the fun or help Scorpius. Finally he found little Frank Longbottom jumping up and down on his toes. He was jumping up and down, making it obvious that it was impossible for him to sit still as he looked up at James in admiration.

"Anyway," continued James simply, as if discussing the weather rather than tormenting his younger brother's best friend. "I think we were_ all_ surprised that Scorpius could be so rude. You'd think someone as high-class as him would have been raised with better manners.

Albus' saw Scorpius look of rage, "Give me back my wand, now!" said Scorpius very slowly in a highbrow, condescending manner that seemed to be some sort of birthright he used when cornered. "Or my father-"

"Your father!" yelled James, laughing incredulously. "You know what, Scorp, you tell your father. I'm so scared."

Albus was tried of this. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at James. Most of the group stopped smiling, except James whose smile grew broad and taunting.

"Are you going to hex me, Al? Give it your best shot." He raised his hands up in the air and smirked as if daring him to attack. "I dare you."

Albus was about to, finding the notion of hexing his brother more than a little appealing, when he heard a well-known voice shout,"Expelliarmus!"

James' wand went flying along with Scorpius' wand he'd been holding hostage. James, with his arms still raised, fell face first on the ground from the force of the spell and the rest of the group spun around, wands out. Everyone quickly lowed them when they saw the attacker was Rose, who looked none to pleased at the moment.

With the two other wands in her hand, she stomped over to them. "James, what do you think you are doing?"

James picked himself up, dusting at his robes as he gave Rose a smile. "Nothing, Rosie, just having a little fun."

Rose glared at James, and then turned to Hugo, hands on her hips as she glared at her younger brother. "Hugo, don't you have a class to get ready for?"

Hugo looked up at his sister, wincing. "But, Rosie."

"No buts! Today is your first charms class. Now get going."

Hugo rolled his eyes and turned to leave, obviously sensing his sister was in a mood. Once he was down the hall, she leveled her rage at the rest of the group, several of whom took a step back from Rose's furious glare as she snapped, "As for the rest of you, clear out."

Every one started to walk away without argument. The only resistance was from James who made sure to bump into Albus as he turned to walk away, whispering under his breath, "Can't believe little Rosie had to save your necks again."

He did a fake sigh and smiled at the look of anger on Albus' face.

Little Frank came up to Albus with a very excided smile, still hoping up and down from the level of his enthusiasm. Albus had long been of the opinion Frank Longbottom needed a daily dose of hyperactivity potion to help him with that hopping problem.

"Hey, Al, how's it going? Haven't seen you all summer. Where've you been? Wait! Don't tell me! At home, right? Am I right?" Frank said this all very fast and before Albus could answer Frank continued, "Anyway, we're going to set up some dungbombs on the third floor. That should be fun and-"

"Come on, Frank. Let's go!" called James.

"Coming, James. See you later, Al." Frank bounced away, his gait more a skip than a usual human walk.

"I think that chap needs some sort of potion for his nerves," Scorpius observed, the elitist, highbrow pitch still heavy in his voice like a lingering defense mechanism. "No normal wizard has that much energy this early in the morning and he only gets worse as the day progresses. There should be heavy sedation in his future."

"I can't argue with that. You'd think Professor Longbottom never heard of a hyperactivity potion." Albus turned to Scorpius, who was avoiding his gaze, choosing instead to dourly watch the group of Gryffindors walk loudly down the hallway and away from them.

Rose sniffed at the two of them, turning to narrow usually warm brown eyes at Scorpius. "Malfoy."

"Weasley," Scorpius countered, still avoiding both of their gazes.

That was the closest the two of them ever came to a greeting.

Rose turned to Albus again asked, "What the bloody hell was all that about?"

"It's nothing. Just James being a prat," Albus said with a snarl. "I guess that means all is right in the universe because you and I both know if James isn't stirring up trouble that means the world has tilted on it's axis."

"Hmm." Rose shook her head. "Don't worry about it so much, Al. You need to learn to just ignore him."

"Easy for you to say! You're little miss perfect," Scorpius said angrily. "No one messes with you. It's like you walk on rays of sunshine and no one would even think to back talk the Queen of Hogwarts."

"That's a little overstated. Are all Malfoys as prone to dramatics as you are?" Rose asked with a roll of her eyes. She looked at her watch when Scopious huffed and gasped, "Potions is about to start."

That was all it took for Scorpius to bite back whatever retort he had. The three of them made their way quickie to potions, with Scorpius suspiciously silent over what had happened. It wasn't until they were rounding the corner in the dungeons to the potions classroom that Albus finally turned to Rose. "Hey, Rose, can you look over my potions homework. I kind of rushed it."

"Your potions work is always brilliant," Rose said with a frown. "This is the only class I'm not getting top marks in because of you."

"Yeah," Albus agreed, giving her a smile. "But, my spelling's a bit dodgy sometimes."

"Lucky you even have yours done. I don't have anything. I'm completely empty handed. I never made it to the commonroom. I ran into… well…" sighed Scorpius.

"Why'd you have to egg them on like that?" asked Albus, even if they'd made a silent agreement not to talk about it. "Give them the two finger salute and you know they're gonna attack you like a pack of rabid chimeras."

"Because they were snarling at me. It's not like I attacked them or anything," said Scorpius defensively. "I'm not just going to roll over and take it from those Gryffindor bastards."

Rose now had Albus' report and was crossing things out, correcting words and muttering to herself in very Rose like fashion as they walked. It was amazing she didn't trip and fall, but she never did when she was working on the go. Scorpius once suggested they sell tickets and put Rose's amazing talents for walking and reading on display for profit because it was sort of awe-inspiring to watch.

Due to Rose's walking and correcting slowing them down, they arrived at the potion classroom a little late, but professor Slughorn didn't seem angry. In fact, he seemed as pleased as he usually did to see them walk into the classroom.

"Albus! My boy," Slughorn boomed. "I thought you had gotten lost. Take a seat right in the front." He pulled out a chair for Albus, gesturing for him to seat while ignoring Scorpius. "And miss Rose." He turned and smiled at Rose. "How's your mother? I haven't spoken to her in ages. One of the most talented witches I ever taught."

"She's fine…as usual," Rose said indulgently despite being asked that same question every week because she always liked Slughorn.

The rest of the class was looking angrily at Rose and Albus and Slughorn seemed to notice because he stepped up and returned to his desk. "Now today we will be doing something a bit different than usual since the potion we're going to be working on still hasn't been figured out yet. I told one of my old potions friends who works at the ministry that I would try to help him with the creation process. What a fun project for my third years to try their hands at. I will give you what we've worked out so far and all of you will use what you've learned and attempt to effectively build a potion."

Rose raised her hand. "What _is_ the potion?"

"A cure for the common cold." Slughorn smiled, looking pleased with himself, but had to raise his voice when the class started chattering anxiously. "Now I'm going to give you each the details my partner and I have worked out thus far and you will have two hours to try to perfect it. Do your best and maybe you'll surprise yourself with your creative potion brewing sides. Some of the best potion makers aren't good at following other's direction, but are brilliant and devising potions of their own."

Slughorn gave Albus a parchment with notes and ingredients listed on it. Then with a knowing wink he walked to the other students. Albus had no idea what he was going to do, but he looked at the list of ingredients and the notes on the parchment before he started to work on finishing the recipe for the common cold potion. The first few things he tried had very little effect. He knew instinctively he was going about it wrong, but it was nothing to how the rest of the class was doing. Jason Flint of Slytherin had just thrown in some kind of root that made his potion purple. When he tried to stir it, it blew up, leaving him covered in purple mush

"It's all right, hospital ring is what you need. She'll be waiting for you," said Slughorn to a very panicked Jason. "I expected as much. Potion experimentation is tricky business, tricky business indeed!"

The Scamander twins of Ravenclaw burned there attempt at the potion. The charred concoction released such a horrible smell the entire class had to leave the room for five minutes so Slughorn could clean it up.

A few students managed to make something. When there seemed to be some measure of success Slughorn brought out a very scared looking sixth year that was in detention and also had the profound misfortune of suffering from a cold. Slughorn made the poor bloke try potions he deemed possible successes, forcing Albus to make a mental note to never get detention with Slughorn.

Rose' potion worked for a few minutes, but then seemed to make his cold even worse. Scorpius' potion made the sixth year's muscle freeze as if he was petrified and it took Slughorn several minutes to revive him. Now with only five minutes to go Albus had nothing and was siting there thinking hard on what could make the potion work until it hit him. His father once told him about something called a Bezoar and from what he remembered it could heal most deadly poisons. Although this wasn't a poison cure he had a feeling that when mixed with the other things he put in the potion it may work as a healing potion.

Albus ran up to the cabinet and managed to find the little brown stone. He threw it into the potion and started to stir it. When he was satisfied with the color and thickness of the brew he walked up and gave it to the sixth year. Considering the fiasco with Scorpius' potion, he was hesitant to take another potion but after some interesting threats from Slughorn the tall, miserable sixth year downed the potion. The entire class looked at him, waiting for something terrible to happen, but after a long, silent wait it seemed the only side affect from taking Albus' potion was that his cold was completely cured.

"Amazing!" yelled Slughorn. "You've got your father's and grandmother's brains boy. Just amazing. I didn't think anyone, even you, would actually come up with something workable. I was impressed with Miss Weasley's attempt, but this…Truly impressive," Slughorn continued talking about Albus until almost half the class was gone. Albus got up to leave, but Slughorn held him back and waited until everyone left before he asked, "I'm having a bit of a little party next week and I would be delighted if you could be there."

Albus was afraid of this. Slughorn was always trying to invite him to Slug Club meetings and Albus usually attempted to get out of it but rarely managed it.

"Umm, sure, I'll try." Albus gave a weak smile as Slughorn pated him on the back and sent him on his was.

Albus met up with Scorpius, who informed him Rose was a bit hacked off over Albus stealing her glory in potions and had left. Albus thought that seemed unfair of her considering she beat him in just about everything else. It wasn't like he had a whole lot of glory moments at Hogwarts.

The rest of the day was rather boring. They had Charms with Professor Chang who always seemed to dislike Albus. Something about his father, _talk about unfair_. Then they had Ancient Runes, which Albus chose for his third year class because he found the subject interesting. However it was hard to convince Scorpius to take it and thus far the only thing Scorpius had to say about the class was less than enthusiastic.

Finally, it was dinnertime and they were heading to the Great Hall. Albus was starving. The highlight of his day at Hogwarts was always the food.

Scorpius pointed to a staircase. "Hey, let's go through the second floor. It's faster."

Albus shook his head, thinking of the dungbombs Frank had told him about. "Bad idea. I think we'll find a very smelly surprise."

When they entered the Great Hall he saw the school notice board and took a look at the Gobstones poster again. There were a few new names, but none of any interest—good or bad. Albus also looked at the Quidditch sign ups. The Gryffindors were holding tryouts tomorrow and the Slytherin's a few days later. Albus turned to his best mate, seeing Scorpius staring at the Quidditch sign ups longingly. Albus knew Scorpius always wanted to be on the Slytherin team but Scoprius was about as good a flyer as Albus was, which meant he was pretty darn bad because Albus was a hazard to himself and others whenever he was forced to attempt flying.

They sat at the Slytherin table. As usual students moved away from them slowly and Albus mused that this level of social doom never got any easier. He saw James across the way talking animatedly to a group of girls who were looking at him dreamily and that didn't help his bad mood either.

When he saw Molly, who was now a fifth year prefect, walking to the Ravenclaw table Albus jumped up before he even knew he'd made the decision to do it.

"Hey, Molly!" Albus yelled.

Molly turned, looking to the Slytherin table before she smiled and walked over. "Hey, Al. What can I do for you?"

"Could you get me a spot on the Gobstones team?" Albus asked quickly. "I know you're head of the committee for Hogwarts.

Molly looked a little surprised. "You'll have to talk the Slytherin team Capitan, that'll be Alex. Did you put your name down?"

"Well… No, but I was hoping you could just put me on the team since you're in charge of the whole thing."

"We can't be breaking the rules, now can we? I will tell you a secret though." Molly leaned in, giving Albus a smile as she whispered conspiratorially, "If Alex won't take you on the Slytherin team, there's a bylaw that says you can challenge your house Team Capitan and if you win four out of five rounds you get on the team if he approves or not. If you're that good, Al, and he gives you any problems, I say you go for it."

Albus smiled, feeling a spark of hope burst inside of him. "Thanks, Molly."

Her smile became bemused as she studied him. "I didn't know you played."

Albus shrugged, leaving it unsaid that his parents and sibblings thought it was a pointless game when compared to glory of Quidditch. He never wanted them to know he enjoyed it as much as he did. "Yeah, I like it."

"You've never played with me," she said, looking a little hurt. "All those big family get-togethers when we were playing, you could have joined in."

After dinner Albus and Scorpius walked back to the common room, running into Peeves the Poltergeist who threw inkbottles at them, laughing manically as the bottles barley missed them and sent them sprinting the rest of the way to the dungeons.

Finally after what seemed like a never-ending day Albus curled into bed. He thought that perhaps this year may not be that bad, but he had been wrong the two years before and was likely wrong again, with those fitful thoughts he drifted to sleep to fight his nightmares once again.


End file.
